Help David beat this tumor
Donation protected
Please visit David's CaringBridge site for the whole story and future updates.
David grows AMAZING carrots. Anyone who has had them will agree. His lettuce too, so perfect. And look at those radishes! He was born to grow fresh, organic produce on his small farm outside Eugene, Oregon to help support and nourish his local community, and he's been doing this for most of his adult life. He is truly gifted with a green thumb. Lost Creek Farm Organics is the bomb.
BUT, it is 2020, and massive tumor has stopped him in his tracks. We've named the tumor Roxanne, and she's the size of a cantaloupe. She's strangling his spinal cord, destroying his vertebrae, pushing his heart to the other side of his chest, and taking away valuable lung space. This is a 1 in a million cancer. Even at the big specialty hospital, we're being told that this is just a crazy tumor. How did it get so big, and how did he keep working for so long through the pain? We don't yet know what kind of tumor Roxanne is, nor do we know where else she may have spread (or come from). What we do know is that at a minimum, David will need a huge surgery (probably several). Part of his spine will need to be reconstructed because Roxanne is eating his bones. And he will likely need radiation and/or chemo. DAVID NEEDS OUR HELP.
My name is Christine and I am David's partner. I started this campaign to help David make ends meet in hopes that he can beat whatever this tumor has in store for him, avoid medical bankruptcy, and get back to farming for his community. His treatment costs are going to be far, far beyond his means. Within 2 days of learning about the tumor, David had been in 2 hospitals, had several X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, and was flown by medical air transport to San Francisco for treatment. No other facility in a 500-mile radius could take on such a complicated tumor. It had to be here. And his spine had become too unstable for anything but medical air transport. $$$$
As a one-man farm, David has health insurance that he buys off the market. It's catastrophic-level insurance, and this situation is exactly what it was meant for. So the insurance is helping, but the costs are still very significant. But the costs of his lost work (crops are dying in his fields right now) and the potential that he'll be unable to work next season, on top of the medical bills he's accruing right now, well... let's just say that David is very worried he's going to lose the farm all together.
David has touched so many lives through his farm business and his many years of selling at the Lane County Farmers Market. It is my sincerest hope that some of the thousands of people he has helped feed will feel touched to lend him a hand in his hour of need. David is very strong and he is a fighter. He is determined to beat this thing, whatever it is (to be determined). I think the fact that he is okay with me setting up this site shows how scary things are right now. He is not one to ask for help often. But this mountain he is facing now? David knows he can't do it alone.
Bills and lost income have already been accruing for a few months; the back pain that eventually led to the discovery of the tumor prevented David from harvesting crops for most of the fall season. Financial assistance is needed now and will continue to be helpful for at least the next several months, if not the next year or two. For those curious, I've listed out estimates below of what costs/losses he has already accrued and expects in the future.
THANK YOU for helping in any way you can, whether that is with thoughts, prayers, food, dog-sitting, farm work, or donations. We truly have an amazing community, and together we can help keep this amazing farmer and farm alive and growing gorgeous food for our bellies.
~$20,000 of crops that he was unable to harvest due to pain and now treatments (lettuce, spinach, thousands of pounds of carrots, kale, chard)
$9,000 out-of-pocket medical costs for 2020 (for just the last few days, really)
$10,000 out-of-pocket medical costs for 2021
lost income while unable to work in 2021????
David grows AMAZING carrots. Anyone who has had them will agree. His lettuce too, so perfect. And look at those radishes! He was born to grow fresh, organic produce on his small farm outside Eugene, Oregon to help support and nourish his local community, and he's been doing this for most of his adult life. He is truly gifted with a green thumb. Lost Creek Farm Organics is the bomb.
BUT, it is 2020, and massive tumor has stopped him in his tracks. We've named the tumor Roxanne, and she's the size of a cantaloupe. She's strangling his spinal cord, destroying his vertebrae, pushing his heart to the other side of his chest, and taking away valuable lung space. This is a 1 in a million cancer. Even at the big specialty hospital, we're being told that this is just a crazy tumor. How did it get so big, and how did he keep working for so long through the pain? We don't yet know what kind of tumor Roxanne is, nor do we know where else she may have spread (or come from). What we do know is that at a minimum, David will need a huge surgery (probably several). Part of his spine will need to be reconstructed because Roxanne is eating his bones. And he will likely need radiation and/or chemo. DAVID NEEDS OUR HELP.
My name is Christine and I am David's partner. I started this campaign to help David make ends meet in hopes that he can beat whatever this tumor has in store for him, avoid medical bankruptcy, and get back to farming for his community. His treatment costs are going to be far, far beyond his means. Within 2 days of learning about the tumor, David had been in 2 hospitals, had several X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, and was flown by medical air transport to San Francisco for treatment. No other facility in a 500-mile radius could take on such a complicated tumor. It had to be here. And his spine had become too unstable for anything but medical air transport. $$$$
As a one-man farm, David has health insurance that he buys off the market. It's catastrophic-level insurance, and this situation is exactly what it was meant for. So the insurance is helping, but the costs are still very significant. But the costs of his lost work (crops are dying in his fields right now) and the potential that he'll be unable to work next season, on top of the medical bills he's accruing right now, well... let's just say that David is very worried he's going to lose the farm all together.
David has touched so many lives through his farm business and his many years of selling at the Lane County Farmers Market. It is my sincerest hope that some of the thousands of people he has helped feed will feel touched to lend him a hand in his hour of need. David is very strong and he is a fighter. He is determined to beat this thing, whatever it is (to be determined). I think the fact that he is okay with me setting up this site shows how scary things are right now. He is not one to ask for help often. But this mountain he is facing now? David knows he can't do it alone.
Bills and lost income have already been accruing for a few months; the back pain that eventually led to the discovery of the tumor prevented David from harvesting crops for most of the fall season. Financial assistance is needed now and will continue to be helpful for at least the next several months, if not the next year or two. For those curious, I've listed out estimates below of what costs/losses he has already accrued and expects in the future.
THANK YOU for helping in any way you can, whether that is with thoughts, prayers, food, dog-sitting, farm work, or donations. We truly have an amazing community, and together we can help keep this amazing farmer and farm alive and growing gorgeous food for our bellies.
~$20,000 of crops that he was unable to harvest due to pain and now treatments (lettuce, spinach, thousands of pounds of carrots, kale, chard)
$9,000 out-of-pocket medical costs for 2020 (for just the last few days, really)
$10,000 out-of-pocket medical costs for 2021
lost income while unable to work in 2021????
Organizer and beneficiary
Christine Shaw Olsen
Organizer
Marcola, OR
David Desmond
Beneficiary
